January 2014 – Page 2 – Willem's Planet

January 11, 2014January 11, 2014

Friday/ unemployment down but ..

1. In the news here on Friday : unemployment down to 6.7% in the USA in December, but the labor participation rate of the population is the lowest in 35 years. Is there really that many baby boomers retiring? And why was only 74,000 jobs added in December when most economists thought it would be 200,000 or more?

1-11-2014 1-18-28 PM — The George Washington Bridge brings traffic from New Jersey into New York City. Picture from Wikipedia.

2. Then there’s the George Washington Bridge scandal, the world’s busiest motor vehicle bridge : from Sept 9 to 13, 2013, dedicated toll lanes for one of the Fort Lee entrances to the bridge’s upper level were reduced from three to one without notification of local government officials and emergency responders. The orders were issued by aides and associates of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The closures caused massive traffic congestion, with major delays for school transportation and police and emergency response within Fort Lee. Was the Governor involved, and was it political retribution for the major of Ft Lee’s refusal to endorse Christie for governor in the Oct 2013 election? Time will tell.

3. Finally, it’s the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints in an NFL post-season playoff on Saturday here in Seattle, on the road to the Superbowl. The Seahawks are favored (they beat the Saints 34-7 just in December), but they have to do it again.

January 10, 2014January 10, 2014

Thursday/ week one is done

IMG_0230 sm — This is 7.30 am in the morning, and the view of Denver downtown as I’m waiting at the intersection by our office building to cross the street.

The travelers (‘road warriors’) on the project were all very happy to call the first work week of the year done! and we can go home! on Thursday night. So off to Denver airport to go home.

Travel-wise, the week had a rough start with the severe weather. We stayed at a Hampton Inn right across the street from the offices where we work, which was very convenient, given the cold weather. Next week we are back at the Hilton Garden Inn, some eight city blocks away.

IMG_0237 sm — This is at Denver airport. United Airlines’s Boeing 757 is just pulling up to the gate – the one that will take us home to Seattle.

January 9, 2014January 9, 2014

Wednesday/ the Avalanche has it

IMG_0218 sm — A sweater for sale in the fan shop. That’s the foot of a Sasquatch (abominable snowman),the alternative logo of the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team.

IMG_0225 sm — The Pepsi Center is a multi-purpose stadium : used for ice hockey, basketball, and even musical concerts. Justin Timberlake is scheduled for a show later in January.

IMG_0216 sm — This is during a break between one of the four periods. Those are zambonis on the ice, the ice resurfacing machines, The machine is named after its inventor, Frank Zamboni. Also check out the in-stadium only blimps (‘Dream Big’ advertises the lottery!) that are radio-controlled with little electric propellers.

IMG_0210 sm — Here’s some action on the ice. The Colorado Avalanche bested the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in overtime. The Avalanche team captain is Gabriel Landeskog, a Swedish national.

On Wednesday night we had a project team event : going to an ice hockey game here in downtown Denver’s Pepsi Center. (Yes, we DO work here in Denver as well!). We had great seats ($103 said my ticket, a good thing I did not have to pay). It was not a sold-out event, but there was a pretty good turn-out, given that it was a week night, and that it was pretty cold outside.

January 8, 2014January 8, 2014

Tuesday/ not ‘so cold’ here

Tue weather sm — It was really cold in Chicago on Tuesday, and even colder in Canada.

We made it up to 4°C/ 39 °F here in Denver on Tuesday – which is a lot warmer than most places here in the USA. I had to hang in there : it was effectively my first day back at work after the break, and I still have jet lag. And what does the cat picture have to do with Tuesday? Well, we stopped by a colleague’s house here in Denver last night. She has one of these, but a black and white one. Seems like the purr-fect cat for a cold night.

Maine_coon_red_tabby_white_of_10_kg — Wikipedia’s picture of a Maine Coon cat. Also known as American Longhair, is a breed of cat with a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. (Wikipedia]

January 6, 2014

Monday/ to Denver

The polar vortex flinging extremely cold arctic air and snow over North America made for lots of canceled and delayed flights today. My early morning flight out to Denver was canceled, and the next flight out was delayed by several hours as well. So the sun was setting in Denver by the time we arrived there. There is some snow on the ground here, but not a lot. And the temperature may actually reach 50 °F (10 °C) on Tuesday.

IMG_0196 sm — This is 5 pm on Monday. The sun was just setting as we taxied to the gate at Denver International Airport.

January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

Sunday/ frosty and sunny

IMG_0160 sm — Peeking out my front door early this morning.

It was frosty early this morning, but by 9 am the sun was already at it, melting the iciness. The Pacific Northwest is escaping most of the arctic blast that is hitting the Midwest and East.

My bags are unpacked. I like to ‘discover’ the silly little souvenirs that I bought again, as I unpack my luggage and find it in there.

IMG_0172 sm — Clockwise : porcelain art from Iceland (not sure what creature that is), London bone china mug from Harrods, bead-and-wire lion from South Africa, porcelain dinner bell from Munich, Lowenbrau beer coaster also from Munich. Nine lions in all, in the picture! Those Bavarian lions are more symbolic than the South African one, though.

January 4, 2014January 4, 2014

Saturday (Seattle time)/ arrived

I made it in .. was a little tired and uncomfortable during the flight, but Lufthansa took good care of us. Great food, on-time and good service.

IMG_0106 sm — The view from my seat at 8 am at the gate at Munich airport, getting ready for the short 35 min in-the-air hop to Frankfurt.

IMG_0132 sm — We have arrived at Frankfurt, and it’s a short connection time, so I have to run for the gate in Terminal Z. ‘NO eating, NO shopping, just go to the gate!, said the agent at the check-in in Munich.

IMG_0133 sm — Aww .. I still had time to snap this picture in Frankfurt airport, asking arriving tourists (like me from Africa?) to please NOT buy and bring animal souvenir products (or live animals?) back from vacation.

IMG_0136 sm — We’re now taken to the plane at Frankfurt airport, one of those in the distance. The bus driver has a touch screen that says ‘Left the gate’ and ‘Arrived at airplane’ that he punches status updates into.

IMG_0146 sm — Here’s today’s engine picture (Airbus twinjet A330-300). We’re over Canada’s frozen Northwest Territories here, en route to Seattle.

January 3, 2014January 3, 2014

Saturday/ Seattle bound

I’m at Munich airport. A quick stop in Frankfurt, then Lufthansa will take me to Seattle from there. It’s a good thing we fly over New York and Chicago without stopping! I see the winter storms Hercules ans Ion will bring strong winds, snow and brutally cold weather to the Midwest and eastern parts of the USA.

IMG_0050 sm — Here’s a picture of the Karlsplatz underground on a Friday night. This is the level where the stores and shops are. Street level is one up; the U-bahn and S-bahn trains are down below.

IMG_0093 sm — Is it an aeroplane? No, it’s a food truck with a propeller and wings. This is in the big plaza between the train station and Terminal 2 at Munich airport.

January 3, 2014January 3, 2014

Friday/ more Munich

Here is a selection of my pictures of walking around Munich, some from Thursday, and some from Friday. Since I’ve been here before, I can enjoy the sights a little more and not feel I have to take hundreds of pictures!

IMG_0046 sm — ‘Men in crisis’ says the Zeit newspaper on a lead article for the new year .. and that’s bad for women as well, notes the article. I did not read it in its entirety. (It’s hard work for me to read German).

IMG_9979 sm — A panorama picture of Odeonsplatz. I stood right in front of the Theatinerkirche and panned from left to right with my phone camera.

IMG_2394 sm — This movie theater at Sendlinger Tor square is 100 years old (OK, 101 years I guess – since it’s 2014!). Interesting that they seem to produce hand-painted posters for movies.

IMG_2391 sm — This is Marienplatz in the old town. I was in the bookstore on the 4th floor when the glockenspiel started (music, and the little guys in red start rotating and dancing).

IMG_2366 sm — This is in the Karlsplatz area; with the iconic twin towers of the Frauenkirche seen from the side.

IMG_2314 sm — This clock is inside the Deutches Museum complex.

IMG_2301 sm — The Deutches museum seen from afar. This is the river Isar. The water is shallow very clean; I could see the pebbles on the riverbed. Behind me is some islets in the river which were made into city parks.

IMG_2287 sm — This lion is at Odeonsplatz. Everyone passing by rubs the nose of the lion on the shield (which is why it’s buffed and shiny).

IMG_0024 sm — This cute cuckoo clock is from a store on Karlsplatz. (I want one! It can be Oktoberfest all day long in my house. Or will I go cuckoo with it? I may order one on-line and have it shipped to Seattle when I get back home).

IMG_0029 sm — This bookstore is on Marianplatz; has a gorgeous industrially designed staircase in its center.

IMG_2266 sm — This is close the the University U-bahn station, a war memorial. The figure with the four lions on top reminds me of the Brandenburg gate in Berlin (which I have not been to). The BB gate has four horses, though.

IMG_2274 sm — Ludwigskirche : a church close to the same university (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), on Ludwigstrasse.

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014

Thursday/ arrival in Munich

I arrived in Munich. The Marriott hotel by the main train station did have a room for me for an early check-in at 8.00 am in the morning. So I had my European shower (the kind where you are very careful not to spray water all over the floor, because for some mysterious reason the showers all over Europe only have half bath-length and open-ended partitions. (But it’s not a complaint, just an observation).

IMG_9932 sm — It’s 7.00 am in Munich, and we have just stepped off the plane. The sections We walked through to get to the baggage claim is brand new : glass, steel and LED lighting.

IMG_9958 sm — Hackenbrucke station is on the S1 bahn (line) to Munich’s main station. That’s Ben Stiller in the flick ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ on the poster. The train that I’m sitting in looks just like this one.

IMG_9962 sm — Here is the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station). The sign looks old. There is a lot of construction and remodeling going on; who knows if this sign will survive that.

January 1, 2014

Wednesday/ at JNB airport, Munich bound

IMG_9917 sm — This is the Airbus 340-600 that took us from Cape Town to Johannesburg (a 2 hr flight).

IMG_9928 sm — Here’a a panoramic view from the lounge at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International airport. The Qantas airplane in the distance will fly to Perth (flight time just under 11 hrs) or to Sydney (just over 14 hrs).

I am at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo airport. I have to wait a few hours for my flight to Munich. We leave tonight, and I fly just about due north, so hopefully I will get a few hours sleep.

The flight is scheduled for an early morning arrival there, and they may not have a room for an early check-in for me at the hotel .. in which case I will feel compelled to use the time to wander around in the city for a few hours!

January 1, 2014

Happy New Year! It’s 2014

It’s here! .. it’s 2014! Happy New Year! My family and I did not make a fuss about it in Stellenbosch, all of us retiring to bed well before midnight. I did hear ‘Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, life goes on’ from celebrations at a farm or wine estate close by our house, but not enough to keep me awake.

In South Africa there will be a general election in April (but Pres. Zuma is likely to get elected again despite his unpopularity), and in the USA there will be mid-term elections in November. And Obamacare is kicking in for real with the newly insured.

P.S. The protea flower arrangement is from the lounge at Cape Town International airport. I have started my journey back to the United States, but will stop over in Munich for a day or two first.